Sixteen Candles
by writingxonxwalls
Summary: A sixteenth birthday should be magical, right? So is the account of Hermione's 16th, in which Harry and Ron forget, a dorky lower-classman has a crush on her, and Draco Malfoy, longtime crush, starts to notice. Based off of the movie Sixteen Candles.
1. Chapter 1

**Sixteen Candles **

**Chapter One**

.

Hermione Granger stared at the dark red canopy cover that was laid across the top of her bed. Hearing the other girls in her dorm getting ready for breakfast, she decided to herself to stay in bed till they were gone; she wasn't much hungry anyway.

And that is how she stayed, lying in her crumpled maroon pajamas, trying to make herself think logically; even though it was one of the more monumental days in her life so far, there were going to be no miraculous changes that had happened overnight. Even with magic, it would be impossible, but the most Hermione was wishing for was some sort of birthday glow.

She did get up, however, a couple minutes after she heard the last set of feet shuffle out of the dormitory. The brunette took her time deciding which clothes she wanted to wear and how to do her hair for that school day. It wasn't like everyday was a birthday; it was meant to be celebrated.

While comparing herself in the mirror, she took note that she looked exactly the same as she had before, not that she was surprised. With auburn hair that fell into bushy curls on a good day, brown irises that were no where near note-worthy, and a figure that was in mediocre shape, Hermione still believed that her best feature was her petite nose, which she was told looked very charming when she scrunched it in distaste. She didn't even have a birthday glow.

Once she finally did end up walking out of her room to meet her Pansy Parkinson and Ginny Weasley, her only two true friends of the female gender, Hermione was over the fact that she hadn't seemed to have undergone any changed.

"You didn't change one bit." The Slytherin said somewhat bluntly.

Sticking out her tongue, she tried to give her friend a horrible look, in which she failed miserably, "Thank you so much for reminding me, Pans."

The youngest Weasley giggled, "She's just a pessimist, Mi, ignore her. Happy birthday."

"Sweet sixteen, baby!" Pansy cried as she threw her arms in the air, almost dropping her textbooks she was bringing for her first class. Hermione laughed, but inside she knew the little insignificant actions her friend made were the basis for all of Pansy Parkinson's life choices: live in the moment, care about the consequences later.

And, Ginny Weasley, always the peace-keeper. The loving, most patient, but definitely not the most quiet, friend of the trio of girls. The three of them made quite a team.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione shared with her friends as the walked towards the sweet smells of breakfast pastries, "It doesn't matter what I look like; I'm finally sixteen."

"That's the spirit," The redhead smiled.

The double wood doors ahead of them were somewhat overwhelming for her, though. Hermione was never one who thrived on attention, so her birthday was always both a blessing and a curse. She actually cringed, inwardly thinking of what atrociously _male _thing Harry and Ron would've come up with to celebrate her birthday. Before pushing the door open, she forced a smile, "I suppose I can't put off their birthday wishes any longer."

While Pansy dispersed to go to her House's table, the two other girls made their way towards their own table. The were frequently stopped on the way to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, as many of their fellow Gryffindors wanted to wish Hermione a happy birthday.

"Good morning, boys," Ginny did call out once they had sat in their seats by the raven haired Golden Boy and the redhead sidekick.

Her brother didn't take the time to respond to her; Ron continued to stuff as much food as he possibly could into his mouth. Harry, who had quite obviously been silently declared spokesman between the two, did pause eating his feast to respond, "Morning."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed, but decided to give her best guy friends some leeway, as it was somewhat early in the morning, "Is that all?"

"Of course, was there something you needed from us?"

"But it's Friday, September nineteenth." Hermione persisted.

The boys didn't take notice to her obviously shocked tone and continued to inhale their breakfast. "We know, Mi," Harry laughed darkly, "And Snape thought he was clever by assigning a project so early in the school year, but Ron and I will have it turned in on time. You watch, Mi. We'll do it."

Ron nodded his head in agreement, bacon bits flying from his mouth across the table at her. The brunette sighed, obviously used to the disgusting happenings of flying food, and wiped her arm with a napkin.

She kept hope in them, though. The rest of breakfast, she watched them expectantly, waiting for when they would tell her. Maybe they had surprise for her, she had wondered, an idea which was quickly shot down once she realized that they had just plain forgot. After she had made careful planning for birthday presents and surprises, they didn't even remember her sixteenth birthday.

And even though it was most unlady-like, Hermione's mouth hung open as she watched two of her best friends scurry out of the Great Hall to work on their project before class. Ginny nervously nudged her with her body, "Hermione, what did they do this time?"

"Ginny... they forgot my bloody **birthday**!"

.

**Author's Note. **

My first ever chapter story; yay! Teehehe, this is for the **80's Movie Challenge **on HPFFCF, and this is going to be based off of the movie _Sixteen Candles._ Currently seeking a beta for this story: if interested, please PM me. Requirements: must be a loving person who will be become my new best friend and will give me constructive criticism. Haha, just kidding... but not really. ;D

If you're an avid reader of mine, and are currently reading my two collections **Fame by Quotation **and/or **Once Upon a Disney**, please check out my profile. I have some special updating info there for you. I fixed my brother's WordDoc, so I can update this and FBQ from my brother's laptop, but I'm afraid OUAD is going to have to wait until I get my laptop back, as I have a list of quotations I'm going to use.

This is my happy New Year's present to you, guys! Lots of wishes and love for a wonderful new year.

_Love? Hate? Indifferent? Don't think it's going anywhere? Leave a review, please._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Two**

.

She found it extremely easy to wallow in her self-pity. "But, Pans, how could they forget? That's so typically boy; do you know that?"

"Aw, come on, Hermione," Pansy was about ready to choke Harry and Ron for forgetting. Merlin knows that an upset Hermione is not a fun Hermione. "Why don't you just remind them? Play the guilt card? It could be highly profitable."

"What?"

"Just think of all the things you could have them do for you... the possibilities are endless!"

The brunette laughed, "What a Slytherin thing to say. I wouldn't stoop so low as to remind them. I'd much rather wallow."

"Oh, no, because that would be too easy for our favorite know-it-all," Pansy murmured.

"What was that, Pans?"

"Come, on; we've got to get to Muggle Studies."

.

Hermione definitely didn't think that she would be having to do this when she signed up for NEWT level Muggle Studies. Sure, most of the students in this class only took it because it was an easy 'Acceptable' (take Pansy for example, who was currently sitting with the rest of the Slytherins at the back of the room, sleeping). However, being the wonderful, knowledge-hungry girl that she was, Hermione wanted to take this subject so she could see exactly what wizards really thought of muggles. And another O on her resume wouldn't be so bad, either.

Hermione agreed that creating an understanding of muggles through doing what normal muggle teenagers did on a daily basis was a good idea, but this was taking it to an extreme. Honestly, did Professor Burbage actually want her to fill out this, dare she say it, sex survey? Biting the inside of her lip, Hermione tentatively started filling out the questions. After all, it said 'confidential' on the top, and teachers couldn't lie, could they?

She grimaced as she neared one of the last questions. "_Do you want to have intercourse with anyone in particular? (It can be your ideal, we won't tell_.)" Hermione whispered to herself.

Before she could think about what she was doing, she scribbled down her answer: Draco Malfoy.

_Does he/she know?_ Most definitely not, the brunette thought, and if she had anything to do with it, it would stay that way.

Finishing up the survey she folded it into a perfect square, getting ready to send it to Pansy. They always swapped embarrassing stuff like this - it was a way of bonding, in a sense, an "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours" type of game.

Quickly, wanting to get rid of the evidence, she doodled Pansy's name on the parchment and a couple of zig-zags going across the survey. Slipping her wand out of her robes, Hermione whispered the spell that Ginny had taught her to use when passing notes, and with a little snap the paper vanished, and reappeared on Miss Parkinson's desk.

.

He was bored out of his mind, with absolutely nothing to do. No one was really filling out this survey, so why bother? He laughed as Parkinson giggled a little in her sleep and turned over, oblivious to the fact that at any minute the Professor could start up class again.

He surveyed the room, seeing the survey had made some students flustered, while others were as bored as he was. Granger had the right idea; she had her wand out and ready, probably passing notes.

With a faint pop, the very same Parkinson who was deeply immersed in dreamland received a note that hovered just above her desk, begging to be opened.

He lasted a total of four minutes and twenty-seven seconds before he reached over his desk and past Pansy to snatch up the floating parchment.

After all, he was bored, and now he had something to do. .

"What do you mean, you don't have it?!"

"Come on, Hermione, it can't be that embarrassing, you didn't have your name on it, right?"

She blushed a wonderful Gryffindor crimson, "You know I put my name on everything!"

Pansy would've laughed at her friend if she didn't know that she would be hexed into oblivion, "Well... who'd you put down?"

Hermione gave her a look.

"Oh, you didn't, Mi."

"It asked for my ideal!"

"Well, Draco Malfoy's ideal for sure."

The Gryffindor sighed, "Well, whoever has it now better not know it was me, or else I might as well feed myself to acromantulas now."

.

The Slytherin Prince, stud extraordinaire, strolled casually down to the Quidditch pitch for practice, his team in tow. His best mate, Blaise Zabini, walked next to him proudly; after all, he was with the most popular boy in Hogwarts.

"Do you know Hermione Granger?"

The Italian scoffed, "Of course I do; Gryffindor, right?"

"Yeah," Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you think of her?"

"I don't."

"Would you ever go out with her?" Blaise laughed loudly, thoroughly amused by the questions. "Depends on how much you paid me."

"She's not ugly..."

Watching the blond unlock the changing room, Zabini couldn't help but become somewhat curious, "Why do you ask?"

Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly, "I just catch her watching me a lot. She looks at me like she's in love with me."

"Aw, come one, who cares! I mean, you've got Luna, so what does it really matter if some little kitty, I mean lioness, has a crush on you?"

Draco Malfoy inwardly cringed at his girlfriend's name. Sure, she was hot enough, and all the boys would kill to be in Draco's position- the hottest, most popular boy at Hogwarts with an equally stunning girlfriend - but was that what he really wanted?

Instead of acknowledging his thoughts, Draco nodded in agreement to get his friend off his back, and started pulling on his practice jersey.

.

**Author's Note. **

Thank you so, so much to my amazing beta, **fallingstar93**! (: She does a super amazing job. Yay!

And, I promise, there's a reason for Luna. The story needs a whacky girl in that place… (: What do you think?

Thanks so much to: **YeahYouWannaKnowMyName, iceskaterluvr, Lilmissxx, fallingstar93, sinsrfun10, SilverSerpent122, DCoD, dancinequestrian, touchthemoon985, Sharlmalfoy, TheOneAndOnliiBethii, Hermione'sBFF454, ., TwILIgHt-Lover24**

_Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave a review. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Three**

.

"I really hate her for being so innocently pretty."

Hermione looked up, following Pansy's gaze, and frowned slightly. "Pans, don't be cruel."

The black haired girl rolled over on top of her books, basking in the sunlight. "It's not my fault she's too attractive for her own good. Just because she's a little loony, everyone worships her."

The Gryffindor glanced at their topic of conversation, Luna Lovegood, who had seated herself at the very center of the courtyard, lazing on the green grass, with more than enough people fawning over her. "Maybe if you were a little less bitter, and a little crazier, everyone would pity you, too, and be your friend."

To say Parkinson had given Granger a fierce glare would have been an understatement, but the brunette wasn't in the least bit afraid of one of her best friends. She merely chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Pansy, stop giving me that look. You know I'm jealous of Luna too."

"Yes … but only because she's Draco's _girlfriend_. I don't see why everyone thinks she's so sweet and perfect," Her friend continued to pout, "So she's crazy and she can interpret that fantastical magazine of her dad's. Big deal, I bet you a hundred galleons that if I had a magazine and pretty blond hair like that, I would be more popular than her."

Turning back to her Ancient Runes homework, Hermione Granger, in her own opinion easily the most boring person in the entire wizarding world, knew that she didn't want to be Luna Lovegood, no matter how many friends she had or how pretty she was. Ginny and Pansy were great friends to her, and it wasn't as if Hermione was _hideous_.

As she watched the odd, matching blond couple cuddle, while Luna told her latest crazy story, the Gryffindor knew that the only thing she wanted that the Ravenclaw had, was Draco Malfoy.

.

Hermione always did believe that the portraits had a slight attitude problem. As if she needed her theory to be proven, however, as she walked down one of the many long hallways alone, she was taunted remorselessly by the meaner majority of the moving paintings.

Not that she minded. She found it somewhat comforting that they were at least talking to her. Nothing could have been more embarrassing than walking down that corridor alone while pictures of famous people watched you.

She was reciting her times tables in her head, when she noticed that a boy, a fourth or fifth year judging by his appearance, was walking briskly towards her. His strawberry blond hair was out of control, his robes untidy, but the determined look on his face made her stomach churn with a sudden uneasiness.

Her anxiety was soon justified, when she felt hot breath on the nape of her neck. Hermione jumped, startled by the underclassman, but he remained unfazed, with a ridiculous look plastered on his face.

Trying to catch her breath, she flashed him a smile that screamed future-Head-Girl, "May I help you?"

He came closer, his expression fixed. "Hi, love."

"Um, hello. Are you lost?"

He took a couple of steps closer, and Hermione decided that he wore too much of that _Lover Lockhart_ cologne. "Nope, everything I was looking for is right in front of me. Isn't that right, baby?"

"Ugh, what is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, disgusted partly by his audacity, partly by the lewd grin he sported, and partly by the appalling chat-up line.

The Gryffindor boy smirked in a way which made Hermione think he had been wrongly Sorted, "I'm turning on my charm."

And she was left there, spluttering over her words, the vile boy having bid goodbye with an ominous "I'll find you later, love." Hermione watched as the bag of hormones who had just _made a move_ on her swaggered away, feeling slightly sick and making a personal oath to avoid him at all costs.

In conclusion, her birthday had _not_ gone as planned.

.

**Author's Note. **

_Love? Hate? Indifferent? Don't think it's going anywhere? Leave a review, please._

Short, but necessary. Much love to all the people who waited for this while I was stuck with writer's block and my amazing beta who stuck with me, fallingstar93. (: Good news is, I just bought the actual DVD of the movie Sixteen Candles, so the actual planning should be a lot quicker and more efficient since I can watch it whenever I want.

**So much thanks to: **_mew luchia, TheOneAndOnliiBethii, MudbloodFlo, XBex26X, LilyLuna21, Silver Rose-17, FingersToKeys, lacking a better name, Sharlmalfoy, TwILIgHt-Lover24, Hermione'sBFF454, DCoD, iceskaterluvr, All the Pretty Horses, MicMae, gypsy101, XqueseraseraX, GeeTiger, fantasia-4, maiebella black, fallingstar93 _


	4. Chapter 4

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Four**

.

A sixteenth birthday is supposed to be magical. It's supposed to make everything amazing, everyone is supposed to worship you for one day and, most importantly, everyone is supposed to remember. Hermione Granger was more than a little bitter about how her _special_ day had turned out.

The only hope for saving her birthday would be the back-to-school social, a dance of sorts which Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff had set up on yet another drive to promote inter-house friendships. But even with that to look forward to, Hermione was doubtful that this egregious day could be salvaged in any way.

While she pondered Dumbledore's ridiculous schemes to promote inter-house unity, she was, in fact, sitting in a hard wood chair in the man himself's office, with Dean Thomas, of all people, waiting for the Professor to come in and share with them his "surprise", as he had phrased it in the note they had received.

"What do you think he has for us?" Dean muttered to the brunette beside him. "Hope it's something exciting. Maybe he'll have me learn how to fight Death Eaters for the protection of the castle…"

She shrugged with nonchalance and chose to ignore his silly comment; the war hadn't even been declared yet, let alone the training of fifteen and sixteen year olds to save the school.

"It's probably just a job that he needs done around Hogwarts - a ball to organise, or a change to the patrol schedules."

Slumping down in his chair, Dean scowled, thoroughly dejected by Hermione's kill-joy tendencies.

"Mr. Thomas, Miss Granger, how lovely of you to drop in at such short notice," Albus Dumbledore smiled brightly. He had entered the room with a teenage boy at his side. Hermione didn't recognize him. "Lemon drop?"

Hermione shook her head in response, and couldn't help but study the boy whom, she assumed, she was going to be introduced to them soon enough. He had strawberry-blonde coloured hair, too shaggy to be considered cute - in her opinion, in good need of a cut. He wore muggle clothes, not unlike the ones that the male Hogwarts students would wear on an outing to Hogsmeade, and had no robes with him. He grinned at them, revealing endearing dimples.

"Children, this is Jeremy Warner. He's come to visit us from America." The seasoned professor started, "And I would like you to be his guides."

Smiling her sweetest smile, the brunette oozed kindness. "I would be honored."

.

Hermione Granger was appalled.

"Hey bro- whuddup homie?" Jeremy (or Jem, as he said his nickname back home was) said to his newest fan, Ron, and threw himself onto the Gryffindors' precious crimson couch.

Of course the boys were quickly attracted to this foreigner; his swearing rate was high and Jem had an uncanny ability to make rude remarks towards the women in the room.

As they, Hermione, Jem, and Dean, walked back to the common, Hermione had tried to start a friendly conversation, such as how his trip was going, what he liked the best about Hogwarts so far, and what school was like in America. He had responded with quite peculiar and grammatically incorrect answers like, "It ain't so hot, dawg" or "Yeah, it's cool, ya dig?".

This crazy American was scaring her, and she had also noticed that he was terribly sexist. Every pretty girl over the age of fifteen had received some cat call, grotesque gesture or lewd comment that made Hermione wonder who had taught him such awful manners and why he didn't have a permanent slap-mark across his cocky little face.

Regardless, all the boys, especially Harry and Ron, to her dismay, had become fast friends with Jem. The welcomed him with open arms, eager as little children on Christmas morning to hear about what life was like in America.

Hermione decided that she would put as much distance between Jem and herself as she could.

Instead of hanging on his every word, she, with all of the other girls in the common room, went back to their dormitory to don their dancing attire. Cute skirts and colourful blouses were tossed into the middle of the room, for all the girls to choose their weapons of choice from. They were all determined to get their own special boy's attention, and tonight was the perfect opportunity.

This brunette wasn't an exception. She picked up every different article of clothing as if it was the most delicate thing in this world. In reality, however, it was Ginevra who picked out the sundress in multiple shades of blue and yellow.

As she finally exited the crowded room, taking to walking down the stairs very slowly, Hermione cringed at the sight of Jem and Dean, who were waiting on the couch for her.

With the hopes of being able to lose them quickly once they got to the dance, she put on her biggest, most patronizing smile, "Well, let's go."

.

**Author's Note. **

Why was this so hard to write?! I'm sorry this took so long. Writing an actual story is a lot harder than I thought it would be. All your support means the world to me guys:[

I hope I shouldn't have to say this, but just in case, I'm not trying to make fun of Americans. I am American. It's just how we are sometimes. If you've seen the movie, you'd understand why I exaggerated Jem's character so much.

Lots of love for my beta, **fallingstar93**!

_Love? Hate? Indifferent? Don't think it's going anywhere? Leave a review, please. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Five**

.

Much to her surprise, Hermione didn't have to try very hard to get those boys away from her once they got to the party. In fact, once the boys had spotted the first group of cute girls from another House, they were off in that direction, drool splashing against the stone, leaving a trail behind them. She was quite pleased that she didn't have to think of some complicated lie in order to get out of their company.

However, not to say that she was having a good time. In fact, as Ginny, Pansy, and she walked into the Great Hall, one could almost feel the wild teenage hormones taking over the room. Boys chasing after girls, girls leading boys on.

She took a deep breath, "I wonder if Draco came…"

Ginny and Pansy shared a look. They worried about their best friend and how much she pined after that certain blond. They wondered how he could turn this normally articulate bookish girl into a walking sigh.

Catching the glances, however, Hermione huffed, "When you don't have anything, you don't have anything to lose, right?"

"That's a cheerful thought," Pansy snorted.

Not even a couple steps into the room and Ginny already wanted to go back to the common, "Come on. Let's go make ourselves available."

.

"She doesn't look like a fifth year…"

"Sixth year, mate, sixth year!" A strawberry blond boy nudged his friends, eyeing Hermione, his challenge, his conquest, like someone would eye their prey, "She wants me so bad."

His friends snorted, "Not by the looks of it."

"I'd bet that you haven't even talked to her before."

He shook his head in disgust as his two best friends didn't believe his very true love story with Hermione Granger. Tim Flood, fifth year Gryffindor, was determined to prove them wrong, "By night's end, I predict me and her will interface."

.

She tugged on her sundress, watching as they slow danced together. The perfect Hogwarts couple, taking their time as they made lazy circles around the dance floor. Their blond hair looked almost identical, and she seemed content with her head placed delicately in the crook of his shoulder.

Hermione's soft brown curls that fell past her shoulders were just a reminder to her that she didn't belong in their straight platinum world. That she didn't truly belong with him.

In her head she was spinning with him, and he was holding her close. True, she knew that she was too smart of a girl to be dreaming up silly fantasies, but she was a hopeless romantic after all.

For a split second, she could've sworn he had looked up at her, that their eyes had locked. And maybe it was just the romantic in her, but that slow smile made the moment too good to be true.

Sadly, it was. As soon as the world stopped revolving around the shared eye contact, which still was under debate whether it was all imagined or not, Hermione was greeted by someone… someone who definitely wasn't Draco Malfoy.

"I knew you'd warm up to me." With those select words, the Gryffindor geek with too much cologne was there next to her, dancing as if his heart depended on it and as if she was dancing along.

Hermione gaped at him, thoroughly amazed. Didn't this underclassman realize by now that she was definitely not interested in his advances? So quickly, and quietly, she did what she felt she had to do to finally get her point across.

While he was too busy, obviously absorbed in dancing well, she turned around, and ran.

.

"Well, I must say, that was your greatest performance yet." A Ravenclaw friend of Ted's taunted.

"Bugger off, Ben. That was just the first encounter of the night. She's just embarrassed that she's so infatuated she doesn't know what to do with herself."

"I'm sure," A fellow Gryffindor, Kyle, snorted, "You couldn't get a girl to shag with you if your life depended on it."

"False, mate; that is utterly untrue."

"Prove it."

.

Jem eyed her as she walked past him, her small green dress swishing as she passed. Watching as she totally blew off some poor fellow that tried to ask her to dance, he knew this was the girl that was worth turning on the good old American charm.

He leaned over to the redhead boy (Ramond? Richard? Jem wasn't quite sure) that had followed him around for the better part of the night and gestured to his new interest, "I'd tap that."

It was quite unfortunate to find out she was within hearing distance. Turning around, she arched one perfectly waxed eyebrow, "You will tap nothing, and you will like it."

Jem grinned; he liked her already, "Really, now. And why would a lady as pretty as yourself be without a date tonight?"

She gave him the typical Slytherin smirk, "Because no _boy_ was able to fill a man's position. I'm Daphne."

"Jeremy. Jem for short. _Pleasure_ to meet you."

.

Ted huffed to himself, not realizing that finding one girl at a dance would be so damn difficult. He was pacing around the dance floor, trying to catch a glimpse of that brown hair or the blue dress she wore. He had almost approached Ginny Weasley, whom he knew from some of his classes, but then decided that she would probably curse him with that Bat-Bogey if he even said hello.

Unexpectedly, he was spun around to face the bloke behind him. If the sheer height of the boy hadn't sent the Gryffindor into panic, it was the determined face that was painted across the face of the illustrious Draco Malfoy.

Stumbling over his words, Ted barely got out, "I'm really sorry, whatever I did was an accident- I mean, I didn't mean to, I swear!- Bloody hell…"

Scoffing, the blonde looked away then back to the younger boy, "Relax… you were dancing with a girl?"

"Oh man, I didn't know! I'm really sorry!"

"Do you know her?" He pressed.

"She grabbed me, mate; I'm totally innocent!" Ted tried to swallow the frog in his throat, "Is she yours?"

"What do you know about her?"

"Bookishly smart… somewhat frizzy hair. Decent voice. She drives me _crazy_."

"Did she come here with you?"

Ted smirked and leaned into the upperclassman, as though he was sharing a special secret with him, "Nah, but if it's ok with my roommates, she's leaving with me."

Dumbfounded, Draco Malfoy watched as the disgusting smelling (obviously too much cologne had been the cause of that) wanker ran away, obviously trying to avoid getting beat up. Was Granger really interested in… _that_?!

.

Pansy Parkinson was beyond bored. It was borderline pitiful.

That Gryffindor exchange student was sitting there, eyeing her housemate Daphne Greengrass, and she was pretty positive that said girl was eating up the attention since she knew that he was watching. What a classic move…

And Hermione next to her, Merlin love her, was watching Draco as he walked around the room, occasionally socializing with different people, all with the blonde girlfriend firmly attached to his arm.

But things got extremely interesting once a strange underclassman geek slid up next to Hermione.

"So I'm back." He stated, leaning close.

"So we smell," Jem muttered under his breath.

Hermione scrunched her nose, "Couldn't find anyone else to bother, huh?"

Pansy watched as the strawberry blonde laughed, as though the insult was actually a joke, and responded, "Come on, you know you're the only one I want to bother, huh?"

"This is my friend Pansy," Hermione looked apologetic towards her, obviously sorry that this bizarre boy would now know her by name, "And that's Jem Warner from America."

Seeing a golden opportunity to practice his American slang, Ted smiled, "Yo, whuddup dawg, homie g, shawty!"

His attempt was answered with a sad, pitying look from Jem. Obviously his knowledge in usage of hip-hop terms was limited and lacking in depth, "Don't ever try to do that again."

Hermione returned to looking out towards Draco, "And this is Farmer Fred."

"Ted." The underclassman corrected.

Pansy snorted as Hermione sarcastically corrected herself; it was so easy to see that she was having trouble putting up with this bloke, "Oh, I'm sorry, this is Farmer Ted."

Ted laughed and looked towards Pansy and Jem to give them an explanation, "I'm not really a farmer, I'm a-"

Pansy interrupted him, "Geek, can I be honest with you?"

"Not if you're going to insult me."

She smirked and chuckled a bit, "Get the bloody hell out of here."

"Nice, nice manners, babe!"

Jem scoffed and got in his face, all business, "She's totally serious, ass wipe."

Ted grimaced, "Calm yourself…"

Pansy made a mental note to interrogate Hermione how she ever got this character on her case. He was a special bugger to say the least. Talking quietly to himself, Ted was trying to steady his nerves, which had obviously been shaken by Jeremy. Good thing they had that American exchange student here for something other than eying Daphne.

The brunette Gryffindor gave her the ever useful "I'm Leaving" look, quietly got up, and walked away, all without the attention of Farmer Ted.

After watching him talking to no one for a good three or four minutes, Jem nudged the underclassman's shoulder and gestured to where Hermione used to be sitting. He watched as he blushed and tried to laugh it off as he walked away. Before looking back at Daphne, who was hanging onto a big somewhat burly Italian, he leaned back and glanced sideways towards Pansy, "That kid is an epic fail."

"I don't understand what you mean by that, Jem, but I'm sure I agree."

.

**Author's Note. **

A lot of things can happen at a dance… and to think, this is only half of the dance scene! (: Over 1,500 words? Longest chapter as of late! Yay!

Thanks so much to my amazing step-in beta, **blueskyshymoon08**! I think Hilary did a great job beta-ing at such a short notice (: Fallingstar93 has been really busy lately, and I would love for her to finish her term strong.

_Love? Hate? Indifferent? Don't think it's going anywhere? Leave a review, please. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Six**

.

She had figured that the safest place to hide would be the kitchen. And plus, Hermione really wanted a birthday cake of her own. The house elves had been more than happy to let her stay in the kitchen as she started to devour the savory chocolate cake that they had magically made for her at the last minute. It was delicious, and if anything was going to go right on her sixteenth, this was it.

Until an entire shelf of cook-ware was knocked to the floor and the only person guilty of the mess was standing next to where the shelf should have been, wincing at his mistake.

Used to the stalker-ish tendencies of an underclassman, Hermione didn't bat an eye, "Hullo, Ted."

Walking towards her, he scratched the back of his neck, "I'm really sorry about what happened in the Great Hall… I had no idea you couldn't dance."

Hermione snorted as Ted ran into the table, knocking over a set of utensils so they were scattered on the floor. Feeling sorry for the poor boy and for her shitty birthday, she didn't even bother to tell him to leave when he pulled up a stool next to her.

"What a decent night, huh?"

She smiled a bit at that, "It's my birthday."

"Seriously?"

Hermione nodded and put another fork full of cake in her mouth, "Yeah, I mean, it's really been a bad birthday, though, so let's not dwell on it."

"What's wrong? You didn't get anything good?"

"I didn't get anything. Not even a 'Happy Birthday' from two of my closest friends. They just acted like it was just a normal day."

His look was so incredulous, it looked as though she had told him there was no such thing as magic, "Bloody hell… I'd freak if anyone forgot my birthday."

Hermione sighed and for the first time really looked at him. When he wasn't being creepy, this kid wasn't that bad. Sure, he could probably lay off on the after shave, but no one was perfect. "I mean, I'm sixteen… and I should be happy, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well I can't get happy," She glared at her cake like it was the true source of all of her problems, "It's physically impossible for me to get happy."

There's was a somewhat of an awkward silence. Scuffing his shoes, not knowing what he could really say to make her feel better he nudged her with his shoulder, "Would you feel better if you knew one of my secrets…?"

She raised an eyebrow (a skill she had picked up and perfected from Pansy), "Don't gross me out."

"No I'm not talking gross, just embarrassing." He had expected that kind of reaction, after all, he had come onto her in the middle of an empty hallway.

"Alright."

After taking a deep breath, and looking around making sure no one was around, "This information cannot leave this room, ok? It would devastate my reputation that I have so dearly tried to uphold."

She inwardly smirked; he sounded like a younger version of Draco. "You have my word."

"I've never shagged a girl before… I'm not a stud."

Hermione was shocked silly. This was the deep dark secret of his? She couldn't help but laugh. And laugh she did; the brunette genuinely smiled for the first time the entire night.

Ted even chuckled a bit, "Look, I appreciate you not laughing at me."

"I'm sorry, Ted."

They fell back into an easy silence. She was glad that he had seemed to get over trying to woo her; she was actually enjoying having a somewhat decent conversation with someone.

That was, of course, before he leaned in, seemingly prepared to participate in a good snog.

She practically screamed as she tried to move away, ending up falling on her arse, bringing the stool she was sitting on with her, "HEY!"

He turned a little pink, and offered her his hand, "Pardon me."

Taking it, she shook herself off, "Its ok, I guess."

As the strawberry blonde started to pucker up and come closer again, Hermione was about done with these antics on her birthday; the lioness practically growled, "I meant it's ok that you did it once; not that's it ok to try again!"

A bit dejected, Ted apologized, but remained in his proper space.

"Sorry if I embarrassed you…" Hermione started, trying to make him feel a bit better. She knew the powers of rejection all too well, whether one made a move or just looked at from afar, "You know I really don't want to hurt your feelings… it's really sweet of you to listen to all of the stuff going on in my life."

He seemed to have shaken off the whole ordeal, and was back to the Ted she had been having a pleasant conversation with, "I care about it, really, I do. I know I come off as a giant creep. But it's all really who my friends want me to be… I'm a jerk."

"But all boys are pretty much jerks, though aren't they?" She laughed, trying to bring some humor back into the dialogue.

The younger classmate of hers didn't take it as a joke, however, "Yeah, but you see, I'm kind of like their leader… Kind of like the king of the fifth year dipshites."

Frowning at his use of language, Hermione suppressed the goody-girl inside of her, "Well, you somewhat have a title. That's pretty cool. But, you know, a lot can happen in a year! You could come back for your sixth year a completely normal person."

"Really?"

The look of awe etched all over his face made her giggle, "Sure."

"Would I be totally off my rocker if… if I asked if I could shag with you?"

She shook her head; Hermione had already seen it coming, "You asking doesn't make you as crazy as why I wouldn't."

"Why?"

The only two people she had ever shared this with were Pansy and Ginny. Deep, dark and personal, but now that some random person had her "Intercourse Survey" note, and was probably sharing it with the world, she might as well just tell him, "I'm kind of… saving myself. It's really stupid. He doesn't even know I exist."

"Who?" Ted smiled as he taunted her a bit more, "Whoooo."

"… Draco Malfoy?"

Ted was shocked at his good luck, "You like Draco?! Draco's my mate! I just talked to him in the Great Hall. He asked about you."

Her eyes were the size of saucers and her mouth was catching flies, "Did not."

"Did too!"

She put her fork back down to the table. This was unbelievable, "Oh Merlin… oh, if you're lying to me, Ted, I'll hex you till even the professors can't fix you."

He laughed at her lack of trust, "I'm not lying!"

"Blimey… what should I do!?"

"This is _not_ my department."

If Ted hadn't been so preoccupied with making her stopped worrying, he could've taken in the fact that for the first time, Hermione Granger, smartest witch of her generation, didn't know what to do; "Should I let him come to me? Oh Merlin, but then what if he changes his mind? Bloody hell! What would you do if you were me?"

"I'm a gambling man by nature so, I would go for it."

The brunette smiled, "This is so bizarre, but I think I will. Oh, you're the best, Ted."

He watched in a daze as she kissed him on the cheek and hopped off her stool, ready to go find the certain blonde. But then he remembered, "Wait…"

"Mhm?"

"I kind of have a problem. I might have made a wager with my mates… you remember, the dipshites?" He waited until she had nodded, "I'd bet them I'd do _it_ with you."

The look of admiration she had been giving the underclassman not five seconds ago turned to a fierce glare, like a lioness ready to kill something for coming to close to her cubs. Ted gulped, and quickly added, "But that was before I knew you as a person! I can get the proof without actually getting physical!"

"How."

"… Can I borrow your underpants for ten minutes?"

.

**Author's Note**

Thanks so much to my step-in beta **quik-wit**! I think she did a lovely job. Fallingstar93 was just a tad busy with life, but she'll get right back to beta-ing the next chapter (:

I'm somewhat disappointed that my last chapter didn't get more feedback. Personally, I think that's my best and most exciting chapter yet… please, even if you don't like it, could you review and tell me what you think I should change? Thanks a ton!

_Love it? Hate it? Don't think it's going anywhere? Leave a review._


	7. Chapter 7

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Seven**

.

Draco sighed softly; he was feeling so utterly bored. Sure his girlfriend was in his arms, and he was gracefully twirling around the dance floor with her, like any good boyfriend would. Her blond hair was pretty and just the right shade of fair, and even if she was bit loony, everyone adored his girlfriend, and them as a pair. "The Perfect Hogwarts couple", that's what they were, or so he had been told.

But something had been nagging at him for a while now… In the back of his mind all he could see was his older sister's sneer when he brought Luna home to meet the family, and his younger sister's pout when Luna wouldn't get on her knees and play tea party. It was unnerving that the two people who meant most also disapproved the most, their dissatisfaction playing like an annoying Weird Sisters song on repeat in his head.

Was it that the fact that all she was interested in the parties, the fancy outfits… the popularity she received here at Hogwarts? Even though it was a couple years off, what would happen to them once they graduated? Had pretending to listen to all the gossip, cleaning up all the left behind regrets from last night's party, and… Well honestly, he couldn't think of anything much else that he did with her… had that been all for naught? Sure, he was the so-called "Slytherin Sex God", but was partying all he wanted for his life?

He shook his head, an ineffective attempt to clear his mind of such pressing life questions. A boy of his age shouldn't care as much as he does, the blonde figured. The Slytherin would have plenty of time to figure out his life later. Now was not the time.

Luna snuggled closer to his chest, her black dress making her stick out like a sore thumb: the contrast between her complexion and the frock made her absolutely stunning and impossible to ignore, and damn, did she know it. "I think it's time to blow this dance thing off already. We could go back to your common…"

Trying to snap his attention back to the conversation, he choked out a, "Yeah?" not exactly knowing what she had said, or where this topic was headed.

"I told Millicent and Daphne, you know those darling Slytherin girls I met, and some of my Ravenclaw friends, to come back to your common for a real party, okay love?" Luna smiled to herself, not really caring about his input. He had never declined her a party thus far, so why would he start now?

"I told them not to tell anyone. Merlin, I love it that Snape doesn't care what you Slytherins do… Then I get to pretend to be the hostess of the party, and no one has a doubt that we're one of the richest, most popular couple at Hogwarts. I owe all my amazing weekends to you, you know."

Draco just nodded; he was looking out into the crowd, subconsciously searching for the girl that had been his main focus for the night. Unfortunately for his date, it had not been her.

Luna Lovegood's smiling eyes faded into a glare. This lack of interest in her would just not do. She reached up to grab his chin and yanked his face down to look at her, "What's your problem?!"

She watched as he snapped back into attention, the face that was used to tuning in at the most inopportune moments quickly showcasing his trademark smirk; the smirk that had girls leaving puddles of drool in their wake, "What, baby?"

But Luna liked to believe she knew better, and could see behind that smirk. After all, she was his girlfriend. "You've been acting so bizarre all night… Are you seeing someone behind my back?!"

"Me? Are you _mental_?" Amazement took over Draco's expression. Sure, lately he hadn't been the best boyfriend, tuning her out and the like, but surely she believed that he had more _class_ then to cheat on her!

"I don't know, Draco. The astrology signs are matching up, my horoscope's been getting quite odd lately, _and_ I've been getting mixed signals from—"

"Well, they're not coming from me," he signed, done with this conversation, "Look, everything's fine. Don't start going all mental on me."

"Okay." As with as much evil as she could possess in that tiny frame of hers, Luna smirked; she had him just where she wanted him, "Just remember one thing. I can name twenty guys that would kill to love me."

He almost growled, "Is that a threat?"

She shrugged, "It's a fact, Draco. Come on, let's go back to the dungeons before we get into an embarrassing quarrel…"

As she walked behind her in pursuit of leaving the party, Draco couldn't help scowling. _No one_ threatened a Malfoy.

Hermione frantically paced in front of the giant wooden doors of the Great Hall. Right behind them was the boy who had asked about her, and if she were to approach him, she knew she would have to do this right.

Practicing to herself, she smiled brightly, "Hi Draco, I'm Hermione. What's going on?..."

Her smile promptly faded; that made her sound like she was three. "Draco, this may sound incredibly dumb, but I love you and will do anything to make you love me…" Too clingy.

"I love your shirt…" Dumb.

"Draco, you're not going to believe this, but I had this peculiar dream and you were in it!"

It was perfect. The brunette took a deep breath before she pushed open the doors, putting herself back into the midst of loud music and wild dancers. It was now or never, sink or swim, pass or fail. And Grangers never failed.

.

Meanwhile, Ben, a Ravenclaw fifth year stood outside the boys' lavatory.

A shy Hufflepuff boy discreetly made his way over to where Ben was standing.

"What year are you?" Ben said, still blocking the doorway, looking quickly for any teachers patrolling the hallway.

"Fifth."

"Give me a sickle." Once it was handed to him he opened the door, "Get in."

.

Draco didn't quite understand the purpose of a shawl. Why must a girl wear a shawl, if her intent was to take it off as soon as they arrived? It wasn't as if the girls were genuinely cold, or that the shawl had the effect of making them look good, so what was the point?

But this was the one time that he was grateful that he had to stand there and wait for one of the teachers to summon Luna's scrap of cloth out of the multiple shawls that lay discarded behind the "coat desk".

It was then, as he was standing there alone, entirely bored, that he had felt someone come up behind him. As he turned, he came face to face with Hermione Granger, the girl he had been thinking instead of his girlfriend the whole night.

So naturally, he smiled. It was a strange sight to behold, really, as Draco Malfoy rarely ever smiled. It made his face light up, or so his mother said, but he never quite had too many reasons to show the world his sparkly white teeth after he had grown out of childhood.

And there he was, smiling away, and her face was, well, expressionless. After a moment or two, the brunette walked away, without a single word.

Draco's perfect brow creased in thought, as he watched her retreating back disappear into the crowd. What the bollocks had just happened?

.

Sitting down next to Ginny, Hermione noticed that Daphne had joined their group, obviously to flirt with Jem. Pansy was next to Ginny, probably looking for her next dance partner, and the redhead was too busy blushing every time Harry happened to glance their way.

To herself, Hermione mumbled in disgust, "I can't believe I'm such an idiot. He smiles at me, and I don't say anything… and I can't believe I loaned my knickers to a geek…"

"What was that, Mione?" Ginny inquired.

"Nothing."

.

There were probably a few dozen fifth-year boys in that bathroom, willing to view a most precious sight. Most of them stood in groups according to their house, but all looked about the same, antsy and not willing to wait any longer for what brought them here.

After closing the door behind him, Ben looked to the far stall and called out, "Ted?"

Bursting from the stall, the obvious leader of their group stood before them. He took what was behind his back and held it for the entire room to see. The air became silent, the boys utterly fascinated, having clearly never seen a scrap of fabric like this before. Their eyes were transfixed upon the dark blue cotton with an appropriate amount of lace at the edges.

"Bloody hell."

.

**Author's Note.**

First, about Draco having sisters, I've always loved that idea. And since this story is totally AU, I thought I could finally play in my greatest wish for Malfoy… besides him ending up with Hermione of course (:

Second, sorry there hasn't been an update in awhile. July was extremely hectic. But if it means anything, this story is about halfway done! Isn't that exciting? And there was a lot of Draco in this update (I made sure of that, hehe…)

Thanks so so much to my new second beta, blueskyshymoon08! Hil does an amazing job; I'm so lucky to have her when I need her.

_Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave a review. _


	8. Chapter 8

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Eight**

.

Sometimes life really isn't fair. Sure, Hermione reasoned with herself, that it's one thing if everyone can't be the best Quidditch player or the smartest in his or her class, but there had to be _some_ sort of justice in the world.

Having to watch Jem and Daphne shamelessly flirt with each other as they walked her back to the common, before they went off to a party, was definitely not her idea of fair.

The Slytherin girl, obviously amused with Jem's American attitude on life, turned to Hermione, "Hey, so um, thanks so much for letting me take Jem to the party tonight…"

Forcing a smile, the birthday girl was almost glad to see the Fat Lady, "Yeah, don't worry about it."

"I mean... you could always come… if you wanted…"

"No, I'm exhausted," There was no need to drag on this horrible excuse for pleasantries, "Goodnight, Daphne, see you later, Jem. Have fun at the party!"

They walked away and Hermione slipped her way back into the safety of her own maroon and gold haven. It was only then did she sigh heavily to herself before dragging herself up the stairs to her dormitory.

"Jem's here for less than a day and he already has someone taking him to parties. I've been here since I was eleven, and I'm practically a disease."

.

The dungeon leading up to the Slytherin common room was as chaotic as a street fight at the Quidditch World Cup. Sixth and seventh years filled the hallway; couple snogging in very plain sight, Gryffindors and Slytherins passing each other half-empty bottles of fire-whisky, completely smashed, and boys eyeing the tempting delicacies known as girls from afar.

Alcohol breath is the norm here, and one would feel sorry for the host of the party; after everyone retreated back to their respected rooms, this place must be a disaster zone.

The unwilling host, Draco Malfoy, paced the room silently, in a moody disposition, which was debatably not helped by the fact that he had not tasted a single drop of alcohol all evening, by choice, too disgusted by all the intense partiers that surrounded him.

Luna Lovegood, on the other hand, was having a wonderfully drunk time, milling around with all of her guests. Catching onto her boyfriend's arm, she slurred, "Everyone, this is my amazing, and I mean _amazing_ boyfriend, Draco," giggling, she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and motioned to the crowd, "Draco, this is everyone!"

With a straight face, he slipped out of her grasp with ease and walked away, grateful that her talons were no longer clawing into his arm.

The blonde felt bored by the entire situation. This had happened so many times before. Luna would throw a party in _his_ common, it would be a big hit, she would pass out drunk, he would drop her of at the Ravenclaw common, and have to clean everything up from _her _party.

He casually started the path to his room; he could just wait out the party alone.

Spotting the strange American boy on the stairs, practically devouring the lips of his House-mate Daphne, Draco stopped and nudged him, "Hey, you were with Hermione Granger earlier, yeah?"

Jem truly tried to concentrate and the very popular boy talking to him, but it seemed mighty hard as Daphne attacked his neck, "Huh? Oh, yeah, Hermione, my guide."

"Why isn't she here?"

"She… she didn't want to come." The American boy wanted to get back to his first real experience with British girls, "We dropped her off at the Gryffindor common."

Knowing better than to keep trying to communicate with the drunken boy, he opened the door to his solitude. Finally, he sighed.

Taking out a piece of paper he scribbled something fast. Walking over to his window, he took a light brown owl and tied the parchment to its foot.

"Take this to Hermione Granger?"

Steel gray eyes watched as the bird flew out of his door, probably searching for the first open window it could find. Even with this girlfriend drunk and having fun downstairs and a whole bunch of people to entertain, for the first time, Draco Malfoy only cared what one person had to say.

.

**Author's Note. **

After major writer's block, I wrote this all in one night!

Much thanks so my super awesome beta, fallingstar93! Star does a wonderful job looking out for all of my American mistakes and making my language more British. Doesn't she do a great job? (:

_Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave a review. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Sixteen Candles **

**Chapter Nine**

.

Pacing around the room, he raked a hand through his perfect hair, indifferent to the consequences of his subconscious actions. Forget the pristine hair, forget the thriving party on the other side of his bedroom door, and forget his girlfriend who wasn't on his mind. Why wasn't she responding?

The blond mumbled, "Come on, damn it, answer the letter…"

.

"Are you sure we should be here? I mean, this looks like an upperclassman party and I don't want to-"

Ted cut him off. "Kyle, honestly. Don't pansy out on me now."

The Gryffindor stuttered, "B-but I think-"

"Kyle. We have a bottle of Firewhiskey that we snuck from an upperclassman. We brought alcohol; even though we're underclassmen, we're as safe as kittens."

"If you're sure."

.

Luna was having fun playing pretend. She liked the feeling of being one half of the most powerful couple in Hogwarts, but she craved the pride she felt when she showed Draco off to her friends. Their faces would be green but smiling, happy words being said through clenched teeth. And she loved every minute of it.

However, the Ravenclaw couldn't show off someone who wasn't there.

Stumbling up to Draco's room, it took all of her focus to make it there in a straight line. The stability was short-lived as she opened the door and collapsed to the floor. "Draco? Draco, where are you?" Spotting him sitting on his bed, she sighed, content that she found him, "Drakie, have you stopped loving me?"

The blond life of the party watched as her boyfriend approached her, and nudged her out of the doorway, back into the hall.

"You're drunk, Luna. Go downstairs; leave me alone."

He shut the door.

.

It took a few guesses at the Gryffindor password before Harry Potter, a little more than slightly tipsy, discreetly tried to sneak his way back to his room without getting caught. Unfortunately, he was dragging his passed-out best friend by two arms, making quite the ruckus.

But not as much noise as the annoying owl's insistent tapping at the window.

Dropping Ron's arms to open the window, the Boy-Who-Lived took the letter and shooed the bird off. His intent was to lay it on the central table, but that was before he saw who it was addressed to.

Ripping the Malfoy seal, he quickly scanned the letter, his curiosity for its content outweighing the nagging feeling that this was wrong.

He finished within seconds, and seeing red, he responded, "Now you listen to me, Draco Malfoy; Merlin knows Hermione doesn't need anyone offering filthy date invitations from some bastard like you…"

.

"… I'm sure Hermione has more than enough sense to stay away from people like you. Good night, and goodbye. – H.P."

Draco rubbed his face and sarcastically laughed, "Great, that was just great."

.

Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott, two _big_ boys, loomed over Ted and Kyle. They were not particularly pleased that their magically enhanced game of beer pong had been wrecked by two underclassmen who hadn't been invited in the first place.

Ted squirmed and hissed at his friend, "You've really done it this time."

.

**Author's Note. **

It took me forever, but here it is. I realize it's short, but hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much to Hilary by beta for this chapter! Such a life-saver she is(:

_Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave a review. _


	10. Chapter 10

**Sixteen Candles**

**Chapter Ten**

.

Draco looked around him, drinking in the after-math of this raging party. Chairs were turned over, empty bottles strewn across the room. He had to step over multiple passed out Slytherins just to get to the other side of the room; the others seemed to have retreated back to their respective dorms, unwilling to help clean come next morning.

Sliding onto a vacant, black leather couch, he sighed loudly, wiping his eyes of sleep. It was only two in the morning, and he had a lot of time to clean the common spotless before Snape found what had happened in his absence.

He, the only awake person in the room, plucked a half-empty bottle of fire whisky from the side table. Swishing it around, he looked at his very sober reflection in the glass. His choices were already halfway decided. He didn't choose Luna. But, within that, did he choose _her_? Draco took a swig, pleased when the burn distracted him from his mental debate.

Quietly, almost as if it wasn't there, a scratching noise was made. But Draco heard it, and cringed, as it resembled the sound of fingernails scraping china. Passing it off as a poor, passed out underclassman, Draco started to clear the table in front of him of bottles.

He was more than a little surprised to find the awkward smelling boy from the dance enclosed in the glass box staring up at him.

"DRACO!"

.

Ron Weasley, thoroughly hung over, stumbled towards the girls' dormitories. True, the light blinded him and gave him a massive headache, which forced him to make the trek three times longer than it would have on a normal day, but this just could not wait.

He had no trouble differentiating which room and bed was Hermione's; she was, after all, one of his best friends.

Rubbing his face with one hand, the redhead shook her body with the other, "Hermione."

She moved a bit and made a sound resembling something of the negative nature, but he would not have for it, "Hermione, would you please wake up?"

"Ron?" Hermione Granger still half asleep sat up on her elbows, "What's wrong?"

"Other than my hangover," Ron chuckled, "Nothing… Herms, Harry and I feel like big arseholes. We forgot your birthday… I bet you're going to hex us, huh?"

She didn't respond right away, but to much of Ron's delight, she thought about it. Hermione knew that last night, that was what she had wanted, but it seemed the angry had melted away with sleep, "No… it's ok. I'm not mad anymore."

"Well, happy birthday, if it counts for anything." Hermione had smiled after, showing her thanks for the thought, but he noted it didn't reach her eyes. "Now what's wrong?"

"Hm?"

"I just get the feeling that something else is wrong."

"No, I'm fine… really," she bit her lip.

Leaning against one of her bedposts, the redhead smiled a bit, "So it's a boy?"

Hermione giggled. When had one of her most immature best friends grown up to be so observant? "Yeah, I guess so. I like him a real lot, and he doesn't like me at all." She watched as he nodded for her to go on, and she might as well. She had already spilled her guts to Ted; why not to someone she trusted a bit more? "He's got this great girlfriend- I'm just this creepy girl following his around."

"Well," Ron started, "I can't really help you with that one. But if it's any consolation, I love you. Harry loves you. And we all know Ginny and Pansy love the death out of you. This guy is obviously just a big wanker."

"I know, I just wish it would hurt less."

"That's why they call them crushes," He said in his antagonizing voice that he reserved for when he believed her knew something that Hermione didn't.

Reaching over to him, she pulled her best friend into a hug. Everyone except them to get together, but this was the reason that they wouldn't: they knew too many of each other's secrets, like she knew the fact that Ron was actually very smart. "Thanks, Ronald." She winked, "Perhaps you're smarter than you let on. Drink a healing potion and on back to bed."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

.

**Author's note. **

Ahh! So they do remember! But that is most definitely not the end of the story, folks; we need some romantic resolution, don't we?

To be continued. (:

_Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave a review. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Sixteen Candles **

**Chapter Eleven**

.

Draco held the dark blue undergarments in his fist, "Honestly, are these really her underwear?" Ted nodded vigorously as he awkwardly sat on his side of the sleek black couch in the middle of the common, "Well, then how did you get them?"

The underclassman blinked, thinking the answer obvious, "She gave them to me."

"Did you two…"

"No! No, no," The last thing Ted wanted was for this popular upperclassman to crush his bones and organs because he had been thought to had done promiscuous things with the girl he fancies, "She loaned them to me because of a bet I had with a friend. It's you she fancies, I swear. I mentioned that you talked to me in the gym, and she was so happy. More than happy, ecstatic. She basically thinks you're a regular Gilderoy Lockhart."

Draco shrugged and tossed the underwear onto the table, which was currently had cans and food strewn over it, "That's encouraging. I smiled at her towards the end of the dance. She didn't even give me a second glance before she walked away. I figured she didn't want anything to do with me."

"I'm positive that she likes you. I've been given word from her herself."

Leaning back, the blonde gave the younger boy a hard glance, "You know it would really be unfortunate to find out that she doesn't like me if I ask her out on a date."

Ted snorted, "Listen. What would happen if I lied to you?"

"I'd come to your common and beat the crap out of your arse."

"Exactly! So why would I lie?" Ted made a solid point. "But… honestly, mate… if all you want is to get some snogging time with her and then leave her, I'd have a stronger Gryffindor come and beat your arse. Hermione's a nice girl. She did loan me her underwear after all."

"I can get some snogging time, as you put it, anytime I want. Girls practically threw them Even though having Luna around has scared most of them off, I could get a willing girl if I wanted to. I'm just not into that kind of stuff anymore. At first it was nice, but I'm older now, and is it such a crime to want a girlfriend that actually cares about me? I mean look what Luna and her party did to my common room. All she wants to do is throw a great party… I guess I just want someone to love, who'll love me back."

"That's beautiful, Draco. I'm sure many guys feel the same way but don't have the guts to say it." The Gryffindor sighed, "Hermione… well, she's special."

Draco stood up, "I'll make a deal with you. You let me keep the underwear and I'll let you take Luna back to her common. She's so smashed she won't know the difference between you and me."

"How will I take her back?" Ted gulped.

"Oh, it'll be fine. You'll just do what I always do; fly her back to her bedroom window. I can tell you where it is."

"I don't have a broom."

"You can take my spare."

"Draco, I don't know how to fly!"

He laughed, "It's really easy. You'll be fine. I trust you."

.

Ted quickly followed Draco as they walked out the doors into the night air with Luna over one of the older boy's shoulders and his very new looking broom over the other.

About twenty minutes later and much convincing from Draco, the Gryffindor had mounted the broom that was entirely too expensive for him to be a _spare_, with Luna pushed up against him in front.

"Now, do you remember where I told you to go?" Draco checked.

Ted gulped, "Yeah, I remember."

The sleeping blonde beauty yawned and awakened from her drunken stupor; Luna looked up to the boy holding her on the broom and glanced to the boy standing beside them on the grass. Poking Ted in the chest, she asked Draco, "Who's he?"

Draco smirked, "He's me."

Luna scrunched her nose in confusion, "Who are you?"

"I'm him."

"Oh… ok." She said as she started to play with the buttons on her shirt.

"She's so gone," The Slytherin laughed, "Have fun, and don't hit anything."

Ted pushed off from the ground and yelped as the broom started flying a lot faster forward then he had anticipated. Draco couldn't even make out the words that Ted had screamed as he saw them make their way around the castle bend.

"Not likely!"

.

Luna was officially going crazy and Ted could not handle it. As he tried desperately to locate her room (though to his defense, he reasoned, it was dark and he had never had to do this before), Ted had to save Luna from trying to grab the tree's leaves as they passed by or jump into the lake from the great height that they were flying at.

"But I want to go swimmmmmmming!"

Luna forced Ted to swerve the broom again as she tried to make another jump for the water, "This isn't going to end well unless you stop it, Luna!"

However, instead of listening to him, he was greeted by a different kind of surprise. One in which she grabs his face and plants a kiss on lips and declares, "Oh, young Gryffindor, I love you."

As she continued to kiss his face, Ted smiled, "On the other hand, this could work out…"

.

**Author's Note. **

It's been a long, long time fanfiction. And for that, I am truly sorry. I can't say that I'm back for good, though I hope that I am. But I am back to finish what I started, which includes this wonderful story. I hope you are delighted to know there are two more chapters! Well, really I would call it one and a half just because of the length, but I'm hoping to finish this week, before Fourth of July. You will be seeing a lot of updates within the next week of all my stories/collections. I've been working on lots of things for you in my time of hiatus that I am proud of and would like to share. Enjoy! - Brittany.

_Hate it? Love it? Indifferent? Leave a review! _


	12. Chapter 12

**Sixteen Candles **

**Chapter Twelve**

.

After chatting with Ron and assuring him that she was, indeed, not mad at him or Harry, slumber had found a very willing Hermione on the night of her sixteenth birthday. Not as thrilling a birthday as she had initially hoped for, true, but the brilliant girl had rationalized in her mind that maybe the magic had come in secret and that she had yet to uncover its wonderful gift.

However, that was a little heavy to mull over without a full stomach, so Hermione got up. The Gryffindor took significantly less time in the choosing over her close than as she did yesterday. Looking into the mirror, she smiled weakly at herself; it was time for another regular day at school.

Hermione spotted Harry waiting for her in the common as she descended from the stairwell that led to her room. He spotted her, and looked to one of his best friends with a demeanor of utter distress. Harry had started his apology even before she had gotten to him, "I'm really sorry I forgot about your birthday, Herms. I feel really terrible about it. And I think you were trying to tell Ron and me at breakfast but we just ignored you because of that big project. And I know that you talked to Ron last night but–"

"It's ok, Harry," Hermione smiled pulling him into a hug, "I'm not all that mad anymore. Thanks for apologizing, but I'm honestly not mad."

He let go of her, "So we're still best mates?"

"Always. Let's go get some breakfast."

"Well… about that. Your exchange student really isn't going to be up for breakfast."

Her exchange student, Jem! She had completely forgotten that he was in her care, "Where is Jem? Is he alright? Oh, Dumbledore will never pick me for Head Girl if I mess this up."

Harry laughed for the first time that morning, "Well, if you count achingly hungover alright, he's fine! He's on the couch sleeping away."

Rushing over to the couch she peered over it to find the American boy awake and strangely staring at a glass of water that was placed on the coffee table next to him. "I knew I should've had that water before I went to bed," He muttered to himself. Looking up at Hermione, Jem tried to crack a smile at his host, "Would you mind turning off the sun? It's giving me quite the headache."

"Unfortunately, I don't believe that I am capable of doing that."

The boy just groaned, "Well, despite looks, Draco's party last night was freakin awesome. You should been there."

Draco still sent a pang straight to her heart. "I don't think so." Turning to Harry she sighed, "Let's go get some breakfast. We can eat on the courtyard… Maybe we can find Jem some coffee and sober him up when we get back."

.

Ted did not like the insistent patting on his face. Obviously he didn't want to go get breakfast with his other roommates, as he ignored their futile attempts to waken him from his slumber, but really, must one keep trying when they are failing? "I'll just skip breakfast today," He grumbled, "Leave me alone."

"Well considering we're outside by the lake, yes, we'll probably be missing breakfast today."

It took Ted a couple of seconds to register that, first, that was not a boy, second, that it was indeed the gorgeous and popular Luna Lovegood, and third, that she had stated that they were at the lake, nowhere near his nice warm room. He gulped, "Why am I here?"

The blonde laughed a bit to herself, "Good question. Who are you?"

"I'm Ted… Gryffindor fifth year."

"I could tell that you were a Gryffindor by your vibrations. They're very interesting, I must say." Luna smiled.

Ted didn't know how to respond. When is one every told that their _vibrations_ were interesting? So instead, he changed the subject, "How did we end up here?"

"Who knows… I don't remember anything. But um, thanks for the… I guess." She motioned to the large purple circle that was now being showcased on her neck.

"I'm really sorry about that," Ted admitted, a little proud of himself and more embarrassed.

Luna gave him a strange look, "Really?"

"Well, yeah, I mean obviously if you didn't want it–"

"I didn't say that." There was a very pregnant pause following that statement. "You're a very interesting person, Ted. All the guys that I've dated, aside from Draco, have taken advantage of me… and you're vibrations are rivetingly fascinating."

There was the vibrations topic again, and Ted had run out of things to talk about, "So where do we go from here?"

"How about," She started, "we start by you walking me to my common room. Then we can talk about maybe… something else."

"Really?"

Getting up and brushing some dirt off of her dress, Luna nodded, "But I'd have to talk to Draco first."

"Let's get back up to school."

.

Convincing the Fat Lady to find someone from inside the Gryffindor Common to come speak with him was extremely frustrating and difficult, Draco soon found. He had tried threatening and pleading and he even flat out told her that his last attempt would be accompanied with tears.

Unexpectedly, a boy that was at the party last night, the exchange student Draco believed, walked pushed open the entry, enough for him to poke his head through, "Would you two shut up? What's a brother gotta do to get some decent quiet sleep around here?"

Draco ignored his rant, "Have you seen Hermione Granger? Is she in there?"

"She went to go get breakfast, said something about eating in the courtyard."

With newfound determination and drive, the blonde nodded, "Thanks."

Jem smirked as he watched the blonde pretty boy speed his way to the courtyard, "No one listens to me; I told her she should've gone to the party."

.

Destination set firmly in his mind, Draco quickly made his way to the courtyard, having only one thing in mind. He was so determine that he didn't notice Ted and Luna until he had literally bumped into them on his way outside. The fact that they were holding hands did not escape his notice, though he chose to keep a flabbergasted expression rather than try to formulate the right words for this type of situation.

Ted looked like he knew he was about to die, via Draco's fist. Luna shifted her weight and looked up to him, "I guess now is a good time to talk, Draco." He nodded. "Ted, I'll meet you in the Great Hall for breakfast?"

Briskly walking as fast as he could from the muscular upperclassman, Ted muttered to himself before disappearing into the castle, "I am so dead."

There was a pause as they both watched him go. Draco spoke up first, "I'm really sorry about getting you mixed up with that fifth year, Luna."

"Oh, its ok," She smiled a bit to herself, "I am getting good vibrations from his soul… it wasn't that terrible." Picking up the ends of her hair, Luna started playing with them distractedly. Draco was well aware of her body language; she was nervous. "You know… maybe it's just time for us to… well, I mean, we're fine people by ourselves, it's not going to be a big dramatic thing if we do…."

"That's true. And maybe you're right. We should."

A little teary eyed, after all, this had been her boyfriend for quite awhile, "Can we still be friends?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

.

**Author's Note. **

So now that Draco's single, what will happen next! **LAST CHAPTER NEXT! **

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	13. Chapter 13

**Sixteen Candles **

**Chapter Thirteen**

.

This was the moment it all had been leading up to for Draco. First her note that was meant for Pansy, then seeing her at the dancing and smiling at her, then sending her a note that didn't even get to her, to receiving her underwear from the most unlikely guest to attend his (mostly Luna's) smashing party.

And he didn't know what to say.

So he did the first thing that came to mind. Conjuring up some Gryffindor-esque courage in his Slytherin body, Draco crossed the courtyard and stopped just short of _her_ and her friends, Harry Potter, Pansy, and those two redhead siblings. He quickly let out a string of words, so clumsy that one would've thought that he hadn't been the most popular boy in school, but instead at the bottom of the social totem pole, "Um, Hermione, are you doing anything after classes conclude today?"

.

This must be a dream. There was no other logical way to explain this; this couldn't be happening to her, she reasoned with herself. But dream or not, Hermione felt obligated to answer, as her speechlessness had left an awkward pause in the conversation. Before she could think she blurted, "Yes."

Dream-Draco looked utterly rejected, "Oh, well I'm sorry to have bothered–"

She instantly realized her mistake, "Oh bugger, I mean yes, but it's only homework… I can do it later."

She was pretty sure that Pansy's eyes had left her eye sockets. Hermione figured it's a pretty miraculous day that the infamous know-it-all puts off homework for something else.

Though, Hermione must admit that her dream-boy's smile lit up his entire face, and she mentally praised her imagination for so vividly displaying a happy glimmer in his eyes. "Oh… that's good then," Draco responded to her, "Can we meet up after classes then? Is that ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

Draco nodded, and walked away, "I'll see you later today then."

Pansy couldn't even wait until the blonde had walked out of earshot before she exclaimed how she would have to help Hermione get ready for tonight, and Ginny chimed in that she would try to help tame her hair a bit more. Harry decided to occupy himself with some toast.

It took Hermione to process all of this. And when she did…

"Wait… are you telling me that wasn't a dream?"

.

It was all very strange to Hermione, but in a good way. The cool coffee table that she was perched upon should've given her shivers, but the brunette was too preoccupied with staring at the blonde. The only thing she could see from the glow of the candles was him; it was like the rest of the room had faded away except for two teenagers, a cake, and sixteen candles.

"Make a wish, Hermione," Draco whispered.

For once, she didn't know what to wish for. The magic of a special birthday had brought her everything she had wished for.

So in thanks, she took in a deep breath, and blew out her sixteen candles.

.

**Fin.**

.

**Author's Note.**

Oh my gosh. I can't believe it's finished. Took me long enough, right? I've learned a lot of things- this is my first completed multi-chapter story. I hope you've enjoyed this light-hearted journey with me.

As we say goodbye to the craziness of Ted and Jem, and whatnot- stay tuned for my next story to be coming soon! It will be based of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The title has yet to be decided, but it should be in the works extremely soon. Hope you join me as I try my best to successfully turn Shakespeare into Harry Potter! (And if it's any incentive, it will be a Hermione/Draco and Ginny/Blaise. Now, if that isn't enticing, I don't know what will please ya'll.)

But until then- check out my two drabble collections- **Connection** and **Hogwarts is Still a High School**!

See you all very soon!

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